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IRA set to destroy guns by new year

THE ballot is finally to lay the bullet to rest in Northern Ireland. Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern, the Irish prime minister, plan to travel to Belfast on Wednesday to formalise a historic agreement between Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionist party (DUP) and Sinn Fein.

The deal would see all IRA weapons put out of use in two large-scale acts of decommissioning by the new year and the two parties sharing power before the end of March.

As a signal of the new start, the two prime ministers intend to celebrate the deal not in the traditional surroundings of Hillsborough Castle but in a futuristic entertainment centre built as part of Belfast’s millennium celebrations.

Last night senior British and Irish government sources were optimistic about the chances of agreement. Sinn Fein and the DUP are preparing their followers for what could be the most momentous week in Northern Ireland politics since